While ChutingStar may seem to some like some huge corporate monster of a company, we are a group 7 people serving the skydiving community out of one location in Marietta, Georgia. For the most part, we're available 24/7 in some manner be it in the shop, on the phone or online.
Since 1999, we've mostly been able to provide seamless support by staggering breaks for our staff and covering for each other's "specialty" so that you rarely know when one or two of us are gone for a few days.
Many skydiving manufacturers have a summer and a winter shutdown that may be a week or more. ChutingStar has always stayed open during those times to support skydivers with info, advice, parts and gear. That will be changing slightly this year.
For 2024, there will be a couple of larger staff breaks to give our group a breather. This will delay custom orders processing and some shipments, but we've scheduled these breaks around holidays and manufacturer shutdowns where we are limited in what we can do at that time anyway.
The GoPro HERO9, HERO10, HERO11 & HERO12 Black cameras are slightly bigger all the way around compared to prior GoPro versions. So make sure you have the correct mount for your skydiving helmet!
First-off the HERO9/10/11/12 can mount to any mount that attaches to the bottom GoPro attachment spindles. This means the Vmag system can be used right now for your HERO9/10/11/12 on a Cookie G4, G3, KISS or Skyhelmet Funjin.
There also is a HERO9/10/11/12 top mount option available from Zkulls for TFX, G3, G35 and G4 with a cutaway option, and Cookie has it's HERO9/10/11/12 Roller. We're talking with the other helmet mount manufacturers that use a base cradle or cage, to add more HERO9/10/11/12 mounts.
Helmet and camera mount manufacturers continue to stay on top of giving you plenty of options for a wide range of mounting options for just about any current GoPro camera.
Below are the most popular available options from ChutingStar for mounting a camera to a Cookie G4, Tonfly TFX and KISS helmet.
Please keep in mind that the G4 helmet does not have a cutaway system, and the helmet is tighter to get in/out of than the G3. So take that into account when choosing a mounting system. Some have a cutaway or breakaway feature, while others don't. Same for TFX and KISS helmets.
One other note is that drilling into the G4 helmet does void the impact protection rating. So keep that in consideration on your mount choice if that's important to you. See the full Cookie G4 camera mount disclaimer at the bottom of this post.
15 years ago, open face helmets were the norm for skydiving and only RW teams used full face skydiving helmets. But with the increase of wind tunnels over our planet as well as so many different disciplines of closer proximity skydiving, many jumpers and tunnel flyers go straight to a full face helmet as their first and only helmet.
With several different versions and brands to choose from, which one should you go with? We'll lay out the features, differences, prices as well as highlight some customer reviews, so you can make the most educated choice possible.
ChutingStar did start out as the Rigger Rant & Rave...so true to form...it's time for some ranting...and then some raving.
To all you complainers out there who have been living under a boulder or in some weird bubble, we're living in the middle of a freaking pandemic. COVID-related deaths, disruptions and shutdowns are real. Be happy you're even alive to read this.
Some skydiving gear manufacturers, stores and drop zones have gone out of business, some are having staffing issues and others just can't get the materials needed to complete manufacturing. Some are communicating well to dealers and customers, and some are a complete overwhelmed mess of misinformation.
Anything skydiving-related not currently in stock at ChutingStar, and still available to order from manufacturers, is on the way to us, being manufactured or on some sort of backorder awaiting the manufacturer to manufacture. We are in touch with the manufacturers about delays and backorders on a daily basis so we can communicate to you expected ship dates. But even then, those get pushed back due to more manufacturing or shipping delays.
Packing parachutes while all of your friends are jumping out of airplanes all day or packing late into the night while they relax and party doesn't seem to make sense to most skydivers. But only riggers know the internal rewards of the mostly thankless profession of parachute rigging.
FAA Master Parachute Riggers Steve, Mike & Vitaly at ChutingStar Rigging Loft.Continue reading →
With more than 40,000 canopies manufactured by Performance Designs in the Sabre line, the Sabre3 has some big shoes to fill.
The original Sabre was released in 1990 and more than 20,000 were manufactured until the Sabre2 came on the scene in 2001. By 2018, the Sabre2 reached 20,000 canopies sold like its predecessor. One of the biggest improvements skydivers talk about from the Sabre to the Sabre2 is a softer opening.
ChutingStar recently conducted a main canopy survey, and PD's Sabre/Sabre2 line topped every category as the most popular first canopy, your favorite main canopy and the canopy most recommended to others as their first main canopy. It also tops the list as to which canopy you're currently jumping.
Here are some of those comments from the survey when asked what canopy has been your favorite:
A huge thank you to the 187 of you who responded to the main canopy survey the first two weeks of May at ChutingStar.com!
This one was a bit more long-winded than our past surveys, but we felt that was the only way to truly get feedback on main canopies that are so varied by manufacturer, type and size as well as everyone's different experience level. We truly appreciate all of you that took the time to complete this survey.
After sorting and reading through all the results, comments and feedback, we've found that we can't sum this up in one article. So we're going to be doing a series of articles over the next several weeks in our blog
What we can tell you so far is that the 187 of you who took this survey have a combined 280,876 jumps! The average number of jumps for those responding was 1502 and the average mains you've tried is 9. So the responses were in-depth and rich with information.
PD's Sabre/Sabre2 topped every category as the most popular first canopy, your favorite main canopy and the canopy most recommended to others as their first main canopy. It also tops the list as to which canopy you're currently jumping. Continue reading →
While you can always see our comparison of current audible altimeters at this link, we wanted to hear from you on what you love, hate and/or desire in an audible altimeter!
And did you ever let us know what you think! More than 200 of you took our survey that was open April 1-15!
For the swag pack winners, we decided to award four of you, instead of one, and chose those who identified in the COVID-19 question as a person in the medical or first-response fields. Thank you for your support during this time! See our related blog article on those stories at this link.
The short and sweet from the survey is that the majority of you use and love anything made by Larsen & Brusgaard, and L&B's Protrack II is the audible that is being most considered as your next purchase. Still, the Alti-2 N3/Atlas also received high marks as well the AON2 Brilliant Pebbles. And most importantly, we think the written feedback and comments from all of you is an invaluable resource for other skydivers and the manufacturers.
So lets dive into your responses on these and all the others...
Like most everyone else during this pandemic, ChutingStar and our crew members have been negatively affected during this COVID-19 pandemic. This worldwide shutdown will indeed change the world forever, and has resulted in the loss of loved ones.
At the same time, we're encouraged by the love and strength of the human resolve to not only survive, but make the best of the situation. Stories of families becoming closer, communities supporting each other and businesses switching gears to keep staff employed show us hope for tomorrow.
In our April Survey on Audibles, we put in one question at the end asking "Good, Bad or Indifferent, how has the Coronavirus and worldwide shutdown affected you?"
These are the raw responses below. I think the biggest takeaway I get out of these is that we're not alone in our struggles and fear. Empathize with your fellow human during this time. They may put on an "everything's fine" front, but deep down we all have many of the same issues during this time. Encourage, support and help others as you're able. Continue reading →
After sorting and reading through all the results, comments and feedback, we've found that we can't sum this up in one article. So we're going to be doing a series of articles over the next several weeks in our blog
What we can tell you so far is that the 187 of you who took this survey have a combined 280,876 jumps! The average number of jumps for those responding was 1502 and the average mains you've tried is 9. So the responses were in-depth and rich with information.
PD's Sabre/Sabre2 topped every category as the most popular first canopy, your favorite main canopy and the canopy most recommended to others as their first main canopy. It also tops the list as to which canopy you're currently jumping. Continue reading 
In our April Survey on Audibles, we put in one question at the end asking "Good, Bad or Indifferent, how has the Coronavirus and worldwide shutdown affected you?"
These are the raw responses below. I think the biggest takeaway I get out of these is that we're not alone in our struggles and fear. Empathize with your fellow human during this time. They may put on an "everything's fine" front, but deep down we all have many of the same issues during this time. Encourage, support and help others as you're able. Continue reading 
